An ongoing narrative is that one of the reasons why Luck has already been sacked 20 times through the first five games is because he holds the ball too long.

Luck is currently averaging 2.81 seconds to attempt a pass (NFL average is 2.48 seconds), according to ESPN Stats and Information. He’s thrown seven of his 10 touchdown passes when taking longer than the league average. Luck, though, has been sacked 15 times in that time span because the offensive line has not done an adequate job blocking.

Luck, in typical Andrew Luck fashion, would rather take the blame for the sacks rather than point the finger at his protection.

“You are going to have a clock in your head regardless of how much you are getting hit or not hit or sacked or whatever that is,” Luck said. “Again, I have said this before, I don’t think the sacks are necessarily indicative of how well our offensive line is playing. You can probably blame me for holding the ball too long. It is that clock developing in the game.”

Luck at times has missed opportunities to deliver the ball more quickly, but he’s only been a small part of the problem.

One could suggest that offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski should call plays for Luck to get rid of the ball quicker to avoid taking as many hits. That’s a good thought and all, but their receivers don’t always have success getting off press coverage to get open underneath quickly. The other reason is the Colts are at their best when getting chunk plays.

“It’s a double-edged sword like most things in professional sports,” Luck said. “We know as an offense that big plays are great but also first downs and touchdowns are great. Everything positive is great for an offense. It’s finding the right balance and I think we are still working at getting that.”